Dancing doll



Jul 22 1924.

F. B. MEEHAN DANCING DOLL Filed June' 21, 1920 .Zwento 3 mafia/M?Patented July 22, 1924.

FLORENCE B. MEEEAN, OF HIGHLAND PARK, ILLINOIS.

DANCING DOLL.

Application fil ed June 21, 1-920. Serial No, 390,534.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FLORENCE BURGESS MEEHAN, a citizen of the UnitedStates of America, and resident of Highland Park, Lake County, Illinois,have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Dancing Dolls, ofwhich the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to an improvement 1 in dancing dollsthat is, to. atoy figure which may be operated so as to cause it to similate variousdancing movements.

The features and objects of my invention will be more readily understoodby having reference to the accompanying drawings, in which I haveillustrated one embodiment of my invention.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a doll embodying the features of myinvention.

Fig. 2 is a detail view showing the construction of the loose jointsemployed.

As illustrated, my improved doll consists essentially of a holding andsupporting member formed of a cylindrical rod 5 of wood or othersuitable material provided at its lower end with a handle portion 6.

Loosely mounted upon this supporting mem her, so as to be freely movablethereon, there is a body member or torso 7. Supported on the upper endof this supporting member is a head 8, which head is provided with aneck portion 9 which fits loosely within a cylindrical opening in theupper portion of the torso 7 A pair of arms consisting of upper sections10-10 are loosely connected to the shoulders 11 of the torso and looselyconnected to the lower end of these arm sections 10 are fore-armsections 1212 which carry the hands 1313. The joints in these arms arepreferably made very free and loose, as shown, for example, in Fig. 2,in which the upper arm section 10 is secured to the forearm section 12by a string or other flexible connecting device 14:, this string beinghidden from View by means of the extension 15 knee joints 20, preferablyconstructed simllar to the joint indicated in Fig. 2,

In order. to. manipulate the figure, the handle portion 6 is grasped byone hand of the operator, indicated at 21, while the other hand 17 ofthe operator grasps the lower end of the rods 16. The arm and hand 21 ofthe operator are concealed from View by means of the dress 22, which isprovided with a slit in the front thereof to permit the legs to projectthrough. The lower portion of the torso can be gripped; between thethumb and first finger and moved upwardly and downwardly on the rod 5 orrotated slightly back and forth on this supporting rod so as tosimilate. various dancing movements, and the arms can be caused to movethrough various contortions by means of the rods 16 and by turning thesupporting member 5the head can be caused to turn to various angles. Thelegs are permitted to move freely and during the movement of the figurewill tend to dance upon the table or other object upon which the feet 27may engage. While the eyes of the figure illustrated are stationary, itwill be understood that the various well known forms of movable eyescould be employed to add to the effect produced.

Vhile I have illustrated and described one specific embodiment of myinvention, it will, of course, be understood that the form of the samemay be modified and different shapes of torso, heads and limbs employed,and I do not limit my invention to a human figure, as thevarious partscould'be formed to simllate anlmals of different forms.

Other changes and modifications also may be made without departing fromthe spirit and intent of my invention.

Nhat'l claim as my invention is:

1. In a toy figure, a supporting member consisting of an upwardlyextending rod and a handle portion at the lower end thereof a headsupported upon the upper end of said rod, and a. body portion looselymounted upon said rod between said head and said handle portion, saidbody portion bein adapted to be reciprocated freely up and down on saidrod and to be rotated thereon, and limbs loosely connected to said bodyportion.

2. In a toy figure, a supporting member, a body member loosely supportedupon said supporting member and adapted to be moved vertically thereonand rotated thereon, two pairs of limbs loosely connected to said bodymember, and manipulating rods connected to the free ends of one pair ofsaid limbs.

3. In a toy figure, a supporting member consisting of an upwardlyextending rod and a handle portion at the lower end thereof, a headsupported upon the upper end of said rod, and abody portion looselymounted upon said rod between said head and said handle portion, saidbody portion being adapted to be reciprocated freely up and down on saidrod and to be rotated thereon, two pairs of limbs loosely connected tosaid body portion, and manipulating rods connected to the free ends ofone pair of said limbs.

4a In a doll, a supporting member consisting of a central rod and ahandle portion at the lower end thereof, a head mounted upon the upperend of said rod, a torso loosely mounted upon said rod between said headand said handle portion and adapted to be reciprocated thereon andfreely rotated thereon, a pair of loosely j ointed legs secured to thelower portion of said torso, a pair of loosely ointed arms connected tothe shoulder portions of said torso, hands secured to the free ends ofsaid arms, and manipulating rods secured to said hands for operatingsaid arms.

5. In a toy figure, an upwardly extending rod having a handle portion atthe lower end thereof, a head supported upon the up per end of said rod,a body portion adjacent said handle and below said head and adapted tobe rotated and moved up and down in respect toboth said head and handle,and a pair of limbs supported on said body portion.

Signed by me at Chicago Illinois, this 10 day of June, 1920.

FLORENCE B. MEEHAN.

